Does Terror have a deeper meaning?

"Suicide bombs kills dozens as capital goes into mourning".  Were you aware of this headline before reading it here? Were you aware that on Thursday evening an attack in Beirut even took place? It was buried in the world news section on the BBC website, I only saw it as I was reading that section at lunchtime on Friday.

As France and the Western world go into mourning, Lebanon is emerging from one. Both the epic atrocities were seemingly committed by the same organisation. The so called Islamic State, but there is nothing Islamic about the people who were involved in these attacks. Just as there was nothing Catholic about the people who bombed the Arndale centre in 1996.

Personally I am deeply saddened and sorry for each and every person who has lost their lives because of a terrorist attack. But in times like this, humankind should be gelling together and supporting each other. Instead today, I have seen it being fractured to its core. Friends, families, and communities turning on each other and living in fear of the unknown. But isn't that what the terrorists want? To install fear into the very core of our being.

Or is there something deeper here? Is that not what the Politicians want? Why declare martial law on the streets of Paris? To control or to protect citizens? As long as I can remember, we have always been frightened of something. The IRA, Al Qaeda and now IS. Before I was alive, the Russians and nuclear war, the Chinese or Vietnamese. Now North Korea and Russia again.

Maybe George Orwell wasn't writing a work of fiction when he published 1984. Just maybe he was onto something. Maybe Oceania (The West) Eurasia (Former Soviet Union) and Eastasia (China, Korea, Japan etc) are forever going to be fighting over the disputed zone (The Middle East/North Africa). Which in turn will allow that feeling of fear to never go away. Meanwhile Big Brother will always be watching you! 


“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
― George Orwell, 1984

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

My Remembrance Sunday

It was a bright and crisp sunny morning as I walked into town today. Mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, strangers and friends alike. All stood side by side in front and surrounding the cenotaph as I arrived. The service had already started but I mingled and found a spot amongst the crowd. On days like this I am always in a somewhat sombre mood. 

The service continued, I even prayed aloud. 2 minutes silence to remember the fallen, remember the brave. To remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that me and you can continue to live and can speak our views with freedom. The Last Post sounds and a tear rolls down my cheek as I think of strangers fighting on the battlefronts of both World War One and Two, then in all the conflicts since. Of my friends who have served but are no longer here I feel especially sad for them. The national anthem starts and I feel proud to have served my country, I look around & see current members of our armed services and feel immense pride in them. 

I feel that often we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. So I hang around after the service to place a cross on the cenotaph as my own personal act of remembrance to the fallen.Today is not about if you think a war is just, or if the government is corrupt. It is about remembering those who died for our freedom so that we may express those types of opinion. 

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them"